


Feel Something

by 23andMisery



Category: The Rookie (TV 2018)
Genre: Alternate Ending, F/M, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-10
Updated: 2020-04-10
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:01:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,575
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23572777
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/23andMisery/pseuds/23andMisery
Summary: After the eventful night, Lucy recaps on specific moments in her life that leads to a life changing discovery.Different ending for 2x16.
Relationships: Tim Bradford/Lucy Chen
Comments: 8
Kudos: 79





	Feel Something

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! This is my first attempt at writing for Chenford. Not perfect, but this is something that’s ran through my head since Sunday’s episode. Hope y’all enjoy!
> 
> This was inspired by the song “Feel Something” by Landon Austin

The clock hanging up on the wall in the middle of the Wilshire station struck 11 o’clock at night as Lucy sat at one of the desks with a woman who had proceed to make her evening complete hell. Valerie Castello. The reporter with a sob story. The woman who wanted to be taken seriously was nothing but someone completely looking out for herself. She could have lost her job at this woman’s expense. Her entire career could have been ruined because she wanted a cheap cover story. She was grateful for Tim coming to rescue, helping her out of the awful situation she had allowed herself to be in, although, she wasn’t prepare for the conversation they were going to have the next morning before shift. Again, she allowed herself to be in Tim Bradford’s debt for saving her. At this rate, she didn’t know if she’d ever be able to pay him back for it.

“Once you’re satisfied with your statement, I just need you to sign the bottom.” Lucy said flatly to the Puerto Rican princess sitting across from her. She watched as Valerie signed her name at the bottom of the page. Valerie slowly closed the file as she held her hands up in defense. 

“I am so sorry” Valerie expressed with genuine compassion. 

“Don’t worry about it.” Lucy spoke with little emotion in her in her voice. 

Valerie sighed. “Look, I should have been straight with you from the beginning.” 

“You took advantage of me because I’m a rookie.” She exclaimed. The stress of the eventful evening rushing to Lucy’s head, causing a slight pain. She grabbed the case file from the table the Valerie had just passed over to her. Looking down at the signature she continued. “You knew that a senior officer would have never let you get involved in a serious takedown like that.” She closed the file, still looking down, not able to make eye contact with the brunette who had used her generosity against her. 

“Yes, and that was very unfair of me.” Valerie began “But, listen. I’ve been stuck so long in the same rut. I really needed this. I really needed to be taken seriously. You more than anyone should be able to understand that.” She sat up from her current position crossing her arms a crossed her chest, a slow smirk appearing on her face. “Plus, I knew in the long run that your boyfriend would come and save you.”

Lucy jerked her head up, complete shock reading in her face. _Boyfriend?_ Lucy thought. _Where had that come from?_ “What are you talking about?” Valerie’s grin slightly grew. “You know what. What man drops everything the minute his coworker calls with trouble?”

Lucy sighed, rubbing her temples. Her head start throbbing a little more intensely. “Tim is my TO. It’s kind of his job to do so. It’s his job to correct my mistakes to make me a better person. A better officer.” Lucy rubbed her hands over her face, feeling the ache lingering. _Boyfriend? Like that could ever happen_ , Lucy thought. Tim was her friend, not just he friend, but he was with Rachel. She looked up when she heard a chuckle from Valerie. “What?” She said a little more snappy than she intended it too.

Valerie stood as she smoothed out the wrinkles starting to form in her blouse. She took a deep breath as she tried to figure out if Lucy was really as clueless as she’s acting right now or if she was just a really good actress. “Lucy, a man like that, who _looks_ like that -“ Valerie puts a little more emphasis in the word ‘look’, because I mean come on. They’ve all seen the way that man can pull off a suit. “Doesn’t just go home by himself after a long work day. He definitely has something going on before you called.”

Lucy, getting irritated from her impending headache, pushed her chair back as she stood. “You know, for someone who wanted to be taken seriously, you really jumped at the first opportunity to get the trashy photo instead of an actual news story.” Lucy began collecting her belongs, and the case file that she had to turn in before she left the station. Lucy threw the strap of her bag over her shoulder and started heading towards the front of the station, before turning back to Valerie., who was shell-shocked by the statement Lucy just made. “And for the record, Tim has a girlfriend. She’s my friend and they’re happy together.” With that said, Lucy walked her way down the hallway towards the front of the station. She reached the front desk, passing over the case file, and said he goodbyes to her fellow officers as she continued her way out into the parking lot towards her car. Lucy has maybe gotten a few feet outside the front doors when she heard the Puerto Rican woman’s voice again. “Again I say, no man drops his life, for someone he doesn’t care about. Not especially if he already has someone wait for him at home.”

Lucy stopped in her tracks. Her head really starting to pound. Why was this conversation really starting to bother her? Taking a moment to compose her words, she turns around to look at Valerie. “He’s my friend. He may be a hard ass but he cares about me and my reputation as an officer. Not that I could say the same about you.” She crosses her arms over her chest, barely able to look at her. “Where are you getting at with this?”

Valerie, slowly walked towards Lucy. Only then did Lucy finally look up at her, meeting her eyes. “Lucy, you need to be honest with yourself. It’s all over your face when you look at him.” Valerie placed her hands on her hips. “You need to tell him how you feel, otherwise you’ll just watch him fall in love and you’ll just wonder ‘what if’”

* * *

  
Lucy stood there shell shocked as she watch the woman walk away. She assumed a few moments went by as she no longer saw Valerie in the parking lot. She couldn’t tell you how she got home, as she was transported to the station by police cruiser. Maybe someone came to pick her up? A friend maybe, or perhaps she called an Uber. The thoughts didn’t last too long in her mind to be honest. She had other things to worry about. ‘ _Me? Liking Tim? She chucked at the thought. ‘ _Yeah, we’re close. Probably closer than a TO and Rookie should be. But so was everyone else. Harper and Nolan. Lopez and Jackson. They all built relationships with each other. What’s wrong with her relationship with Tim?__

____

Between the thoughts runninv wild and the throbbing in her head, she hadn’t realize that she had started walking and made it to her car already. Shaking her head, she grabbed her keys from her bag, unlocked the car door and got in the drivers seat. She threw her bag on the passenger seat as if it were a natural reflex of hers and started her car up. Luckily this time, she had no trouble cranking her up. A song immediately began humming through her speakers, but she couldn’t register the words, not even the melody from the storm brewing inside her head.

____

As she put her car in reverse, she began thinking about when she first met Tim. How much of a hard ass he was to her. All the little test he put her through in the first few hours of her shift. Then her mind drifted to the moment she watched that bullet drive into Tim’s hip. Remembering having to drag him away from the line of fire. She felt a knot for in her stomach.

____

She recalls the moment she was pricked with the hypodermic needle the day the Vice President decided to make an unplanned visit. That was supposed to be her day off, that should have never happened, but of course, being who she was, something unfortunate had to happen. She recalls the complete terror she experience that moment. The sickness that sat in her stomach the entire ride to the hospital. She remember the genuine concern in Tim’s voice as he spoke to her in the shop. She remembers the way he put his hand on the small of her back as he guided her inside the lobby of Shaw Memorial. The way he jumped down poor Gino’s throat for not immediately admitting her to be seen. The way he snatched her phone out of her hand when she tried to psych herself out with the “What Ifs”. She remembers thanking him for everything, for sitting with her at the hospital, for the small whispers her spoke to her to keep her sane. Everything. He just spoke that it was his job to do so, but looking back on that moment, she knew he really didn’t have to.

____

Her thoughts come to a halt when she hears a horn blaring from behind her. Lucy looks up and realizes she’s sitting at a green light. _How long have I been here_ ?  She thought as she applied pressure on her gas pedal. She briefly looked around to register where she was, about two blocks away from her apartment. How could she have gotten so far from work and not even realize it? _I’ll have to remember to scold myself when I get home._ As she drove down the street, she noticed a house that looked similar to the house that she and Tim we quarantined at by the CDC when Tim became infected. She remembers the tears she shred and the fear she felt as Tim expressed he’d end his life before the virus did. The memory brought butterflies in her stomach and tears to her eyes. The thought of living in a world without Tim Bradford by her side. It made her not want to breathe.

____

As she pulled up to her apartment complex, she turned off the engine and sat in silence. She hadn’t realized her heart was beating a little quicker than usual. Ignoring it, she finally made her way p to her apartment. Once she enter, she glanced over at the stove and saw the time was now _12:56, shit_ . She quickly put her bag down by the door, and headed towards her bathroom. She stands there for a moment looking at herself in the mirror. All the bruising was finally gone. If you were someone who didn’t know her, you’d never even knew something happened to her. She starts to recall the moment she was pulled from the ground. There’s not much she exactly remember from that moment, but she remember waking up on the ground, surrounded by the people who matter most to her, but the only person who matter in that moment was her TO. She thought is was because of the bond they created, also being that he was the first person she actually saw when she woke up. He was also the first person she saw when she woke up in the hospital. She remembers him denying that he had stayed all night, but she knew that was a lie. _Why had he stayed all night? And why did he deny it too_ ?  He brought her favorite meal. He sat with her all day too, until Rachel got there, like he was scared something would happened again. Again, the thought brought butterflies to her stomach. She took a note of that, as well.

____

She looked down at her hands, and saw her ring. Her ring emphatic was passed down generations in her family. She received as a graduation gift when she finished high school. Same with her mother, and her grandmother. Her mother made sure to let her know that ‘One day when she has a daughter of her own, she could too pass the ring along on her graduation day.’ Lucy rolled her eyes. Clearly that wasn’t in the cards for her right now. As she slowly removed the ring from her finger, she remembers the exact moment Tim returned it to her. He never confirmed it, but in that moment, she knew, he was the one who had found her. Her family heirloom was sudden forever connected to Tim Bradford.

____

By the time 1:30am rolled around, she was finally in her bed, but no matter how physically exhausted her was, she knew it would take a miracle to finally fall asleep. She thinks about the audiobooks she made to help Tim study for the sergeants exam. Sure they were great for him, but the Audiobook could surely put her to sleep right now. _He turned down the sergeants position... to train me...._ She threw her hands over her face. Nobody had ever done something like that for her. Not even when she dated Nolan. Sure Nolan was an amazing guy to her but she knew that would never last. None of her exes had ever given up on a dream like that for her. Hell not even her family has.  _ Tim’s worked his ass off for months for this exams and he gave up a position to train a rookie that couldn’t even tell a reporter was playing me.  _ She mentally slapped herself for not listening to Tim. Now All she could think about was how disappointed she was in herself for not listening to him. She felt a knot start to form in the pits of her stomach, another mental note she took. 

____

She sighed as she finally removed her hands from her face to glance over at the alarm on her nightstand.  _ Shit, 3 already?  _ She finally came to the conclusion that she was definitely not sleeping tonight. Lucy got up to go brew herself a cup of herbal tea. With the combination of no sleep and the knots in her stomach, maybe this will relive her terrible day. 

____

She filled her kettle with water and placed it on the pre-heated burner. As she waited for the water to heat up, she glance around her apartment and noticed a picture of her and Jackson on the wall from graduating the academy.  _ I wish Jackson were here.  _ She thought. He always knew how to make her feel better. He wouldn’t be off work for another 5 hours at least.

____

The kettle finally started to whistle, allowing Lucy to finally pour the steaming hot water over her tea bag. She waited a few minutes for the mixture to cool before returning to her room. Getting relaxed in bed again, she adjusted her pillow to allow her to comfortable sit and drink her tea in silence. As she consumed the mixture for chamomile and lemon, she slowly felt some tension leave her body. As soon as the mixture was all gone, she rolled her body down her bed, finally laying back down as her clock was approached 3:45am. As her eyes started drifting closed, she could still feel the knots in her stomach. Her felt a montage of the past 10 months events flash in her mind. Every single moment that lead to today’s events. All the events of today that lead to her wilds thoughts and she quickly sat back up her her bed., throwing her hands back over her face.

____

_ Shit! I’m in love with Tim Bradford. _

____


End file.
